Railroad-spike-securing device.



l. JAME'S.

RAILROAD SP KE SECURING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 15, 1915.

1,159,842. Patented Nov. 9, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

E. JAMES.

RAILROAD SPIKE SECURING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED MAYIS, I915- 1,159,842, Patented Nov. 9, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- :fl-P 1 r4 7 r HERE-Emil H I w I 2 h: 1 344 63 i w 7 w'w iig uivirnin sra'rns PATENT carton.

nmsnn JAMES, or BRUNSWICK, MARYLAND;

I RAILRoAn-sPIKE sEoURING DEVICE.

To all whom it may concern: Be it knownthat L'ELIsHAIJAMEs, a citii zen of the United States, residing at Brunsspecification. i

wick, in the county of Frederick and State ofMaryland, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in'Railroad-spike securing Devices, of which the following 1s a This invention relates to an improved device for securing a railroad spike and the principal object of the invention is to provide a securing device for a railroad spike which is-so constructed that it may be easily put in place and easily removed and which is also so constructed that it may be held in anoperative position by a single bolt.

' Anotherobject of the invention is to pro- 'vide a securing'device which is so constructed that-*thespike will be entirely inclosed and 'water'will be prevented from gathering around the spike thus preventing the; wood around-the spike from becoming rotted.

Another object of the invention is to provide asecuring device which can be formed either entirelyor partially from sheet metal thus permitting the device to be very'easily and cheaply produced.

' Anotherobject of the invention is to pro vide a device which will be very effective 1n operation but at the same time simple in construction and not liable to get out of order or broken and need repair.

This invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein and illustrating themanner in which the spike head is protected by the improved device. Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 1 showing a. modified form of the protector. Fig. 7 is a sectional view taken along the line 7-7 of Fig. 6, and Fig. 8 is a view similar to Fig. 5 showing the modified form of protector.

Fig.1 through 5 will now be referred to, the form shown in Figs. 6, 7 and 8 being taken up later on. The rail 10 rests upon the tie 11 and is secured by means of the Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed May 15, 1915. Serial No. 28,409.

Patented Nov. 9, 1915.

spike 12. The spikes are driven into the tie in the usual manner with their heads engaging the base of the rail as clearly shown in Fig. 2 and it is to prevent the spike from gradually being worked loose by vibration that this improved fastener has been provided. The cap or housing 13 is provided with an inner wall let which rests upon the rail base and with an outer wall 15 and fragmer'rtary'side walls 16 which engage the tie and have their lower edges sharpened so that they will bite into the tie as clearly shown in Figs. 2 and 5 thus securely holding the cap in place and preventing it from moving longitudinally of the rail or longitudinally of the tie. It is of course understood that of a hammer or other suitable driving tool. This protector will preferably be formed of resilient material and therefore when the arms 17 are connected with the clamps 18 and 19 the action of the spring arms will tend to tightly hold the cap in place. After which the clamping strips 18 and 19 will be put in place. Of course, under normal circumstances these arms 17 would extend straight instead of being sloping and therefore the free end portions of the arms would have to be pressed downwardly so that the arms can be engaged by the clamping strips. The clamping strip 18 is pro'vided at each end with a hook 20 which hooks engage the hooks 21 of the clamping arms. The clamping strip 19 is provided at one end with a hook 22 for engaging the hook of the spring arm and has its opposite end portion resting upon the spring aimof the second cap and held thereon by means of the clip 23 which is secured by bolt 21. It will thus be seen that when the protector is in'place the two spikes will be prevented from having any movement due to vibration as the caps will be held in tight engagement with the spikes. It will be further seen that the caps cannot slip out of place and that the portion of the tie around the spikes will be protected from water and thus the tie prevented from rotting. It will be further seen that with this construction only a single bolt is required and that therefore when it is desired to remove the protector this can be done very easily and very rapidly. This form of fastener is used on tracks that have the tie centers equidistant.

In the form shown in Figs. 6, 7 and 8 the caps are similar in construction to the caps 13 except that they are not provided with the spring arms 17. The resilient securing strips 26 extend longitudinally of the rails upon opposite sides thereof and pass between the ears 27 of the caps. These ears are provided with elongated openings 28 to receive the securing pins 29 which pins do not need to completely fill the openings. It is preferable to have the pins somewhat smaller than the openings so that wedges 30 one of which is shown in Fig. 7 may be put in place. The resilient securing strips 26 serve the same purpose as the resilient arms 17 and are held in an operative position by means of the clamping strips 31, one of which is placed between each pair of ties with its hooked end 32 engaging one of the strips 26 and its opposite end connected with the second strip 26 by means of the clip'33 held in place by the bolt 34. This form is used for tracks having irregular tie centers. I have therefore provided a protector for the spikes of a railroad track which protector will securely hold the spikes in place and prevent any danger of a spike becoming loose and permit the rails to spread. It will also be noted that while the devices shown in the two forms will securely hold the spikes in place, both forms are so constructed that they may be easily removed when desired. Therefore these devices can be removed and replaced or removed and used at another point along the track. It should be further noted that this device will positively keep spikes firmly seated on flanges of rails and that doing this will prevent rails. from "spreading or lifting, thus preventing broken rails. It should be noted that with this device the spikes are always in contact with the base of the rails and that the cross bars or strips of the fasteners which pass under the rails cause the arms extending from the cap to beheld under a tension. The pressure caused by a train passing over the track increases the tension and thus the rail will be held in place and prevented from creeping. The fastener also reinforces and supports rails and spikes to the extent of the strength of the material used in construction.

What is claimed is:

1. The combination of a tie, a rail resting upon said tie, securing spikes driven into said tie andengaging opposite side portions of said rail to hold the same upon said tie, and securing devices for said spikes comprising caps resting upon said rail and tie and covering said spikes, resilient strips extending from said caps longitudinally of said rail, and clamping strips extending beneath said rail upon opposite sides of said tie and engaging said resilient strips to'hold said.

'upon said tie, fasteners for said rail, av pro tecting cap for each of said fasteners inclos- 'ing the same and provided with walls engaging said tie and rail, resilient arms extending from said protectors, a clamping strip extending beneath said rail and having its end portions in interlocking engagement with the end portions of one set of arms, and a second clamping strip extending beneath said rail and having one end portion in interlocking engagement with one arm of the second set of arms and having its opposite end portion removably connected with the end portions of the second arm of the second. set.

4. A fastener securing device comprising a set of caps, resilient arms-extending from said caps, and clamping strips for-passing beneath a rail and engaging the end portions of said arms for holding said arms in an operative position.

5. A. securing device for a set of rail fasteners comprising caps having side walls terminating in sharpened edges, resilient arms extendingfrom said caps, and clamping means releasably connecting the ends of said arms.

6. A securing means for a rail fastener comprising caps, strips extending from said caps, and cross strips connecting said first mentioned strips.

7 The combination of a set of ties, a rail resting upon said ties, fasteners for said rails, caps for said fasteners, ears extending above said caps, securing strips for said caps passing between said ears, means for retaining said strips in position between said ears, and clamping means connecting said strips and passing beneath said rails be-' tween said ties. I

8. The combination of a rail, supporting ties for said rail, fasteners for said rail, caps for said fasteners, securing strips connected with said caps and extending substantially parallel to said rail from one tie to another, and clamping means passing beneath said rail and connected with said strips.

9. A securing device for rail fasteners comprising caps, ears extending from said caps, strips for passing between said ears,

i means for releasably holding said strips in position between said ears, and meansfor connecting said strips between said caps for holding said strips in an operative position.

'10. A securing device for a rail fastener comprising fastener engaging means, arms extending. from said fastener engaging means, and securing means for extending beneath a rail to engage said arms.

11. The combination of a rail, fasteners for said rail, fastener engaging means, arms extending from said fastener engaging means, and means extending beneath the rail to engage said arms.

'12. A securing device for a 'ail fastener including fastener engaging means, and securing means for said fastener engaging means positioned to extend beneath a rail.

13. A securing device for a rail fastener including fastener engaging means, arms extending from said fastener engaging means, and clamping means for engaging said arms at points equidistant from said fastener en; gaging means.

14. The combination of ties, rails resting upon said ties, rail fasteners on said ties, and common means for holding the fasteners on said ties and-supporting the rails between the ties, I

15. The combination of ties, rails resting upon said ties, fasteners for said rails carried by said ties, and securing means for said fasteners including means for supporting the rails between the ties.

16. A securing device for rail fasteners including fastener engaging means, and means for supporting a rail between ties.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ELISHA JAMES.

Witnesses: I

Ross J. WooDwARn, M. E. Jonas.

Copies of this patent may beobtained for five cents each, by addressing the. Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. 0; 

